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A reported 911 dispatch call is shedding new light on how Martin Short’s daughter, Katherine Hartley Short, was discovered dead in her home.

TMZ reported on Tuesday, February 24, that it had obtained audio in which a police dispatcher noted that the person who called 911 said they were at Katherine’s home in the Hollywood Hills but unable to enter a bedroom on the property.

The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed to Us Weekly that officers responded to a radio call of a possible suicide attempt on Monday, February 23, at 6:43 p.m. The LAPD said responding officers found a deceased female at the location. A cause of death has not yet been determined.

Martin’s family confirmed Katherine’s death in a statement to Us on Tuesday. She was 42.

Related: Martin Short’s Daughter Katherine Short’s Neighbors React to Her Death

Martin Short’s daughter Katherine Hartley Short’s neighbors are “sad” over the death of the “great” resident. A next door neighbor exclusively tells Us Weekly that Katherine was a “great neighbor and gardener,” ahead of her death at age 42, which her family confirmed on Tuesday, February 24. “It’s incredibly sad,” the resident, who wishes to […]

“It is with profound grief that we confirm the passing of Katherine Hartley Short. The Short family is devastated by this loss and asks for privacy at this time,” the actor and comedian’s rep said. “Katherine was beloved by all and will be remembered for the light and joy she brought into the world.”

Martin, 75, adopted Katherine with his late wife, Nancy Dolman. The couple also shared adopted sons Oliver, 39, and Henry, 36. Nancy died at age 58 in August 2010 after a battle with ovarian cancer.

Some of Katherine’s neighbors in the Hollywood Hills remembered her on Tuesday, with a next-door neighbor describing her as a “great neighbor and gardener.”

“She was very nice, but this is a quiet neighborhood, and to be fair, we don’t see too many neighbors usually out,” said another neighbor, who added that Katherine was a respectful neighbor who didn’t throw parties and wasn’t loud.

Martin previously opened up about the impact of his wife’s death on the Short family.

In a 2012 interview with The Guardian, the Only Murders in the Building star said “it’s been a tough two years” for his children.

“This is the thing of life that we live in denial about, that it will ever happen to us or our loved ones, and when it does, you gain a little and you suffer a little,” Martin said at the time. “There’s no big surprise.”

In 2014, the Emmy winner shared more details about how he and his family remembered Nancy after her death.

“[Nancy] had once said to me, ‘I don’t want a funeral and I don’t want a memorial. Throw a party, or not.’ She just was so irritated that she was losing this battle, she didn’t want to think about it,” Martin said on The Meredith Vieira Show. “So I just followed her wishes. We went up, we had a party with about 30 close friends and family. She was cremated. The kids and I went into a boat, we sprinkled the ashes into the water, and we jumped into the ashes.”

If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.

Hilary Duff
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Published
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When the word “Kaiju” enters a conversation, most people tend to think of Godzilla. The King of the Monsters’ debut in 1954 was both iconic and chilling, especially since he was meant to serve as an allegory for the horrors that nuclear warfare could bring upon the Earth. While there have been some valiant attempts, very few monster movies come close to capturing the blend of allegory and spectacle of Godzilla. That all changed in 2016 when Nacho Vigalondo delivered one of the strangest yet unique monster movies with Colossal.

Colossal follows the life of Gloria (Anne Hathaway), a writer struggling with her alcoholic tendencies and the end of her relationship. At her rope’s end, she travels back to her hometown of Mainhead, New Hampshire, where she takes up a job at a bar run by her childhood friend Oscar (Jason Sudeikis). Around the same time, a massive reptilian monster starts ripping through Seoul, South Korea. It’s revealed that the monster is connected to Gloria’s actions; if she dances, it dances, and if she walks, it walks — though it ends up causing more destruction in the process. What really makes Colossal a standout is how it uses the monster as a metaphor for alcoholism and its destructive effects.

Image via Neon

Colossal was a turning point in Anne Hathaway’s career. While she’d previously played a literal princess in The Princess Diaries, a struggling journalist in The Devil Wears Prada, and impressed fans with her turn as Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises, Colossal lets her tap into her inner messiness to play Gloria. Gloria’s alcohol issues, much like the monster stomping through Seoul, make a mess of her life. She loses her job, her boyfriend, and is directly responsible for causing untold damage halfway around the world. Part of the draw of Colossal is watching Hathaway play a character who’s the complete opposite of her usual roles, and nailing it in the process.

If Hathaway’s performance in Colossal is a surprise, then no one was prepared for the extremely dark turn Sudeikis takes as Oscar. Midway through Colossal, it’s revealed that Oscar can control his own massive avatar, a giant robot. It’s also revealed that he is a monster himself: he bullies one of his friends, Joel (Austin Stowell), for showing romantic interest in Gloria, and starts verbally belittling her as she begins to gain control over her monster. It’s a pattern that fits an abusive relationship to a T, and it’s utterly shocking to see the man who would later play the incredibly kind Ted Lasso play such a despicable human being. Yet it also shows that Sudeikis has incredible range as an actor.

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An Indie Studio Owes Its Success to ‘Colossal’

Though Colossal turned out to be a surprise hit when it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in 2016, it faced opposition from Toho, the studio behind the Godzilla films. Toho sued Colossal‘s distributor, Voltage Pictures, in 2015, alleging that publicity materials included images from Gareth Edwards’ Godzilla and that Voltage was attempting to make an unauthorized Godzilla knockoff. Nacho Vigalondo didn’t help matters, as one of his quotes describing Colossal was used as fuel for Toho’s legal fire:

“It’s going to be the cheapest Godzilla movie ever, I promise. It’s going to be a serious Godzilla movie, but I’ve got an idea that’s going to make it so cheap that you will feel betrayed.”

Toho and Voltage eventually settled out of court, which turned out to be a boon to the indie world. Following its TIFF premiere, Colossal was scooped up by NEON, which has become one of the world’s biggest independent film distributors. NEON’s list of films includes Academy Award winners like Parasite and Anora, as well as sleeper hits like Hulu’s Palm Springs. None of it would be possible without Colossal, which shows that Godzilla isn’t the only giant monster that can rule the movie screen.

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Release Date

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April 6, 2017

Runtime

109 minutes

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Director

Nacho Vigalondo

Producers

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Dominic Rustam, Nahikari Ipiña, Nicolas Chartier, Russell Levine, Zev Foreman

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Game of Thrones may have ended almost seven years ago, but the franchise is stronger than ever, with both House of the Dragon and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms becoming huge successes and more spin-offs being developed. George R. R. Martin recently announced that his franchise, which spans both page and screen, is now heading to the stage alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company with the upcoming play The Mad King.

This spin-off is the most directly connected to Game of Thrones as it explores the reign of King Aerys II Targaryen (David Rintoul), father of Daenerys (Emilia Clarke), allowing it to feature many important characters, some of whom appear in the original show and others who impact the story long after their deaths. Even more intriguing is that Martin’s announcement reveals that the play will focus on the Tourney at Harrenhal, an event that fans have been speculating about for decades. As such, The Mad King is in a position to answer a long-standing mystery that Game of Thrones never addressed.

The Tourney at Harrenhal Sets Up the Events of ‘Game of Thrones’

Image via HBO

While the play takes place roughly 17 years before Game of Thrones, the Tourney at Harrenhal is a significant factor in the show’s events because it is one of the inciting events of Robert’s Rebellion. This war shapes Westeros ahead of Game of Thrones, positioning characters for their various roles. But more importantly, the tourney itself brings Lyanna Stark (Aisling Franciosi) and Rhaegar Targaryen (Wilf Scolding) together, directly leading to Jon Snow’s (Kit Harington) birth. Throughout Martin’s books, there are several references to the event where Rhaegar crowns Lyanna the Queen of Love and Beauty, and Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) joins the Kingsguard, but the tourney’s biggest mystery involves a character known only as the Knight of the Laughing Tree.

In the books, this story is relayed through Meera Reed (Ellie Kendrick), who heard it from her father. She explains that a crannogman — likely her father, Howland (Leo Woodruff) — was bullied by three squires, only to be saved by Lyanna Stark. Soon after, the Knight of the Laughing Tree joined the joust, challenging the men these squires served and defeating all three before demanding that they teach their squires honor. After the mystery knight’s victory, Aerys grows suspicious, believing the anonymous knight to be his enemy, and sends men to unmask the stranger. However, the Knight of the Laughing Tree is never found, leaving his identity a mystery.

‘Game of Thrones’ New Prequel Can Reveal the Knight of the Laughing Tree’s Identity

The Tourney at Harrenhal leaves the knight’s identity unconfirmed, and over the years, fans have developed many theories. Ned Stark (Sean Bean) and all three of his siblings are present in the story, making them possibilities. With the mystery knight’s shield and name coming from a weirwood tree, the Northern family all seem like candidates. Other possibilities include Howland Reed himself and Ashara Dayne, who is a mysterious figure herself. However, the most widely accepted idea is that the knight is Lyanna Stark. The description fits, as she would have known about the bullying, worshipped the Old Gods, and been smaller than most knights, though this doesn’t explain the knight’s jousting skill. If Lyanna is the knight, it could explain how she and Rhaegar meet, since he is one of the people Aerys sends to pursue the knight. Proponents of this theory even suggest that these events inspired Rhaegar’s interest in Lyanna, which is a major plot point that impacts Game of Thrones.

Since Martin and the RSC’s upcoming play explores the significant events of the Tourney at Harrenhal, it should address the Knight of the Laughing Tree’s story, providing answers that fans have been waiting for. While the play itself may not be officially canon, especially as it will likely make some changes to Martin’s story, the author did work with the production, meaning that he likely provided information about his unfinished plans. After the books left this Game of Thrones mystery unsolved for decades, The Mad King has the chance to finally answer it.

The 2024 action-comedy Freaky Tales is a unique and hilarious anthology that brings together the lives of a handful of very different characters during one unusual night in Oakland, California, in 1987. Amid the cast of talented actors, including Pedro Pascal, Ben Mendelsohn, and Dominique Thorne, is a remarkable cameo from Tom Hanks.Arriving completely by surprise, he delivers a monologue that’s one of the film’s more captivating moments. While his appearance happened as a favor, it turned out to define the movie in many ways.

Tom Hanks Appears as a Video Store Clerk in ‘Freaky Tales’

The scene in question comes almost halfway through the movie, during the segment Born To Mack. Clint, played by Pascal, walks into a video store where the clerk (Hanks) is watching the basketball game that becomes pivotal toward the end of the film. An exchange about the game’s score leads to a conversation about underdogs and why we find them so compelling. Hanks, wearing thick-rimmed glasses and a shirt for a real-life Oakland donut shop, launches into his top five underdog movies.

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He begins with the “obvious” choice, boxing classic Rocky, declaring that “it’s best just to get it out of the way.” He then lists Hoosiers, The Dirty Dozen, and The Verdict, before withholding the number one spot when he learns that Clint is not there for movie recommendations, but the private poker game in the back room. He does hint that it’s a 1979 film that Roger Ebert called “a cinematic miracle”, which fellow movie geeks will inform you refers to the drama Breaking Away.Clint is perplexed by the entire conversation, simply wanting to gain access to the poker game, and invokes the ire of the clerk by confessing he hasn’t seen most of the movies that are in his top five. It’s a delightful tonal pause in the film, but also one that is in keeping with its themes.

The Scene Was Pure 80’s Nostalgia From an Icon of The Decade

It might seem odd that the multi-time Oscar winner would appear in a scrappy independent anthology, but the actor has some connections to both the film’s creators and its setting. Directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck worked with Tom Hanks on the TV series Masters of the Air, and wrote the cameo for him after learning that the star is something of a legend in Oakland, where the film is set. Growing up in the area, Hanks has publicly professed his love for the city’s baseball team, the Oakland A’s, and features on a mural in the city next to Too $hort, the musician who also stars in and executive produces the film.

The appearance is also a nod to a decade when the actor became a star. While he would become famous for prestige dramas such as Forrest Gump and Saving Private Ryan in the 90s, the 80s were where he became a household name with comedies that defined the cinematic era. Offbeat concepts like Big, The ‘Burbs, and Splash could be said to be in the ballpark of what Freaky Tales is inspired by, where reality and fantasy meet to create a fascinating story.

Tom Hanks’ Speech Fits Perfectly With The Themes of ‘Freaky Tales’

Image via Lionsgate

The cameo also serves as something of a rallying cry for the movie’s characters, all of whom are battling overwhelming odds of some description. Clint himself is trying to break free of a life of organized crime; while in other chapters, Barbie (Dominique Thorne) and Entice (Normani) are looking to prove themselves as rappers on a big stage, and Tina (Ji-young Yoo) and Lucid (Jack Champion) are looking to defend themselves against attacks from Skinheads. As Hanks’ character says in his speech: “That’s why we love the underdogs, it’s a projection of ourselves. We’re all just a bunch of losers. We cannot kill Darth Vader, we cannot win a rumble against The Soc’s, and we definitely cannot beat L.A. And yet, the underdog believes they can achieve the impossible.”

By the time the movie ends, the film’s various underdogs have done just that, almost motivated by that assessment. Hanks is seen as a comforting voice in Hollywood history – he’s played Santa Claus, Mister Rogers, Walt Disney, and many other figures we associate with authority or hope in the world. As such, he’s the perfect person to offer this rallying cry, even if it is delivered in a more sour tone than we are used to.

The scene turned out to be one of the standout moments of Freaky Tales, as the surprise and affection many of us have for Hanks is fostered in the neon-lit walls of a video store. For a film so affectionate about the past, who better than one of Hollywood’s most beloved stars to underline its message.Freaky Tales is available to stream on HBO Max in the U.S.

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Release Date

April 4, 2025

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Runtime

107 minutes

Director

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Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck

Writers

Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck

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Producers

Poppy Hanks

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